catgal - I didn't mean to scare you! I have the same reaction as JennJenn. I get a strange taste (not unpleasant, just odd) in my mouth and my lips sort of buzz. I get cold as well, about halfway through the donation, but they're always ready with heated blankets. Also, I have some attention issues so sitting still for 2 hours is a little tough on me but when I went a couple of weeks ago I took my KindleFire, downloaded a movie and when I got antsy, I could browse the Kindle. It was perfect for me.

I get that same weird buzzing feeling, but calcium helps - the first time, they gave me a bunch of Tums with calcium to chew on, and that helped.

When I do plasma/platelets, they usually take some of each (and whatever else they can separate out and give me back the rest) - it's never just plasma or just platelets.

The part that drives me up a tree, though, is that I always have to watch the machine like a hawk and keep squeezing the stress ball to keep my blood moving at the proper rate - if I stop, it drops too low and the machine beeps like mad and stops working. If I keep squeezing but don't watch the machine, it gets too high and the same thing happens. So no reading, web browsing or anything for me, just sit and watch the machine. Blarg.

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What part of v_e = \sqrt{\frac{2GM}{r}} don't you understand? It's only rocket science!

"The problem with re-examining your brilliant ideas is that more often than not, you discover they are the intellectual equivalent of saying, 'Hold my beer and watch this!'" - Cindy Couture

I was just updating the tally on the 1st page, and I realized something. I was grinning from ear to ear! I was having so much fun reading y'all's stories and getting to update our list!

In just the past few weeks we've had a COMPLETELY NEW donor (yay Nika!!!), a woman who donated for the first time a while back and is now a regular donor, several people who donate plasma, some whole blood donors, a platelet donor, a wonderful person who mans the phones so that her coworkers can donate, someone who wants to donate and will after she finishes breastfeeding, and a multitude of other incredibly wonderful people here! Heck, even the people just reading this thread need a pat on the back for taking the time to do that - just being aware of what donation is and how many people here are doing it is a good thing!

I donated yesterday. According to our local blood donor clinic, this was my 14th donation. I'm also on the list as a bone marrow donor, which I did once a few years ago. My blood type is A+. The last two times i was able to donate, I couldn't because the first time, I'd just recently had surgery, and the time before that, I'd recently been tattooed.

Usually I take iron supplements for a few days before, and eat lots of iron-rich foods like spinach and red meat, and drink lots of OJ, because I've heard that vitamin C helps your body absorb iron more efficiently.

Sadly I got bounced again when I went to donate on 3/31 - iron level was 10.2. I'm scheduled to go back and do platelets and double red cells on the 22nd. Keep your fingers crossed that my iron level goes up!

Hurray! I'm ecstatic! Finally, after being bumped four times, today my iron was up enough to donate! YAY!

I've noticed that generally when my iron isn't up to scratch, it tends to be tied to my monthly cycle--but unfortunately I'm irregular enough that I really can't predict it anymore. (Peri-menopause is a serious pain in the patootie.) Being semi-vegetarian doesn't help, I'm told, but that's not a matter of choice in my case but because of digestive difficulties. Supplements seem to go right through me. It's very frustrating. My DH never has these issues (well, I'd be kind of surprised if he did!) and I've been so envious... he's a regular donor, too.

Of course, it was a bit alarming when after I was finished and had been holding the pad in place for five minutes they came along to check me and I hadn't even begun to clot yet. Weird, especially for me. It took almost ten minutes. I must have been applying pressure incorrectly. They told me "no strenuous exercise, and don't even think of lifting with that arm" so, naturally, I raced right away to the secondhand sale that my son's cadet squadron was holding and jumped in to help with the clean-up... including boxing up and carrying heavy things. Oh, yeah, I'm an idiot! I guess I was just delirious with happiness that I could finally give for the first time in about a year!

Yes, I can and do eat spinach, and drink orange juice. Frequently. For some reason, my body doesn't like to hold onto iron, and I remember that each of the last four times I got bumped I was within two days of starting "that time of the month". It was never predictable, but it seemed almost diabolical. This time I knew that this couldn't possibly apply because I just finished a week ago, and not even my body would be as ridiculous as all that...

(Oops. I know better than to tempt the fates by saying something like that! )

Thanks for the input, though, GreenEyedHawk. I'll make a point of pigging out on spinach salad and orange juice if I get close to donation time again and I haven't been visited by my pseudo-monthly friend in the recent past; perhaps that might help!